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ATS resume checker
Many applicant tracking systems turn your CV into fields before a recruiter searches or reads it. Upload your resume to see which fields a parser can read, what is missing or ambiguous, and what to change in the file.
Drop your resume here
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PDF, Word, ODT, RTF, TXT and images · 5 MB maximum · 3 checks every 15 minutes
Prefer not to share personal details? Upload a copy with your email, phone number and address replaced by placeholders: the layout check works the same. How your file is handled
Method
How the readability score is computed
The score only counts what came back from parsing your file, out of 100 points. It does not judge your experience, compare you with a job posting or predict what a specific applicant tracking system will do.
| Check | How points are awarded | Max |
|---|---|---|
| Contact details | 25 | |
| Full name | 10 points when a full name, or a first and last name, was found. | 10 |
| Email address | 10 points when an email address was found. | 10 |
| Phone number | 5 points when a phone number was found. | 5 |
| Work experience | 40 | |
| Roles found | 10 points when at least one work experience was found. | 10 |
| Job title and employer | 10 points multiplied by the share of roles with both a job title and an employer. | 10 |
| Role dates | 20 points multiplied by the share of dated roles. A role counts in full with a start date and an end date (or marked as current), and for half with a start date only. | 20 |
| Education | 15 | |
| Education found | 5 points when at least one education entry was found. | 5 |
| Degree and school | 5 points multiplied by the share of entries with both a degree and a school. | 5 |
| Education dates | 5 points multiplied by the share of entries with at least one date. | 5 |
| Skills | 15 | |
| Skills written as text | 15 points for 5 skills or more, 10 points for 1 to 4 skills, 0 otherwise. | 15 |
| Languages | 5 | |
| Languages | 5 points when at least one language was found. | 5 |
Reading the result
- 85 to 100: Reads cleanly. A parser found almost everything it looks for. Check the extracted values for mistakes.
- 60 to 84: Mostly readable. The main sections came through, with a few gaps. The suggested fixes target what was missing.
- 35 to 59: Partly readable. Important fields were not found. Layout or formatting is probably hiding part of the content.
- 0 to 34: Hard to read. Most fields could not be extracted. Start with the high-priority fixes.
Limits of the score
- Points are rounded to whole numbers for each check, and the score is their sum.
- A field counts as found when the parser returned a value. If the value is wrong, for example a job title read as an employer, the score cannot tell: read the extracted values.
- If your resume has no work history or no languages section on purpose, those points stay at zero. That is expected and not a problem to fix.
- Every applicant tracking system uses its own parser, so the same file can be read differently elsewhere. We do not publish or quote ATS rejection rates.
Fixes
Six changes that make a resume easier to parse
Most parsing problems come from layout rather than content. These changes keep the design readable for people and the text readable for software.
01
Use a single column
Sidebars and multi-column templates can be read across the columns, mixing a job title with a skill or a date with the wrong role.
02
Keep text out of images, headers and text boxes
Your name, contact details and section titles should be plain text in the body of the page. Text inside images, logos or the page header is often skipped.
03
Write dates the same way for every role
Pick one format, such as "03/2021 – 06/2024", put it next to each role and write "Present" for your current job.
04
Write skills as words
Rating bars, stars, icons and logo grids look good to a person but contain no readable text. List the skills themselves.
05
Export a real PDF, not a photo or a scan
Export from Word, Google Docs or your design tool. If you cannot select a sentence in your PDF viewer, a parser cannot read it either.
06
Use standard section headings
"Work experience", "Education", "Skills" and "Languages" are easier to recognise than creative titles such as "My journey".
Building or evaluating a parser rather than writing a CV? Our guide to resume parsing accuracy explains how to measure extraction field by field and what usually causes errors, from scanned PDFs to multi-column layouts.
Data and privacy
Your resume, your call
Used to produce your report
Your file is sent to the HireLayer resume parsing API to produce this report. Resume content is not used for advertising.
An anonymised copy works
Replace your name, email, phone number and address with placeholders before uploading if you prefer. The layout check works the same.
No account needed
There is no sign-up. The report appears in your browser and is not emailed or shared.
Questions
ATS resume checker FAQ
What does this ATS resume checker actually check?
It sends your CV to the HireLayer resume parsing API, the same one recruiting software can use, and reports which fields came back: name, contact details, work experience with titles, employers and dates, education, skills and languages. The score only reflects what was extracted, not the quality of your experience.
Is my score the same in every applicant tracking system?
No. Each applicant tracking system uses its own parser and settings, so results differ. A CV that a parser reads cleanly here is built on the same basics that help everywhere: one column, real text, clear headings and consistent dates. We do not publish or quote rejection rates for any ATS.
Does it compare my resume to a job description?
No. This tool checks machine readability only. It does not score keywords against a job posting or rank you against other candidates.
How many resumes can I check?
Up to 3 checks every 15 minutes from the same IP address, with files up to 5 MB. The limit is shared with the resume parser demo.
Which file formats are accepted?
PDF, DOC, DOCX, ODT, PPT, PPTX, ODP, XLS, RTF, TXT, JPG/JPEG, PNG and BMP. A PDF exported from your editor usually gives the most reliable result; an image has to be recognised character by character first.
Should I upload my real CV?
You do not have to. A copy with your phone number, email and address replaced by realistic placeholders (for example [email protected]) works just as well to check the layout. If you remove contact details entirely, the contact checks will score lower, which is expected.
Can I add this check to my own product?
Yes. The checker runs on the public HireLayer resume parsing API. Call it from your job board, ATS or careers site and apply your own rules to the JSON it returns. The free plan includes 50 credits a month.
For developers
Put this check in your own product.
This checker runs on the HireLayer resume parsing API. Call it from your job board, ATS or careers site, get the same structured JSON and apply your own rules. The free plan includes 50 credits a month, no card required.